


Losing The Stiff Upper Lip

by the49thname



Category: D.Gray-man
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-30
Updated: 2012-07-30
Packaged: 2017-11-11 02:01:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/473216
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the49thname/pseuds/the49thname
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It has been said that the English are most known for their mannerisms and, at times, bizarre eating habits. But Lavi had always thought that the accent of English people was their most defining feature. Laven, oneshot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Losing The Stiff Upper Lip

Hey everyone. This oneshot is dedicated to my dear Jana-chan (bakaxusagi on ff.net), who was my 100th reviewer on my story Prophecy : Shin. She has given me countless advice, praise, criticism and help with that story, as well as being an awesome and lovely friend, and reading her current main project called Post-It Thief has been an absolute pleasure - read it, and read it now! It is beyond cute ^w^

Thanks for everything sweetie, and I hope you enjoy reading this ~

Oh oh and THIS IS HEAVEN FOR ME *heart* An excuse to emphasise my Britishness and go insane with it? Yes please ~ ;D

Summary: It has been said that the English are most known for their mannerisms and, at times, bizarre eating habits. But Lavi had always thought that the accent of English people was their most defining feature. Laven, oneshot.

Pairing: Lavi x Allen; Laven

Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own D Gray Man. If I did, Lavi would have been in the manga again ages ago, dancing on Sheryl and the creepy tongue Noah’s dead corpses.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

At the first sign of the morning light, Old Glory’s in the sky  
Across the pond it’s the afternoon, and the Union Jack flies high  
We’re on our first cup of coffee  
We’re on our third cup of tea  
And we can’t pretend to live on different planets  
You and me  
In this collision of worlds  
Watch the new day dawn on the distant shore  
In this collision of worlds  
Oh you can’t sit this out no more.

Brad Paisley & Robbie Williams - Collision of Worlds

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Losing The Stiff Upper Lip

Bookmen are observers of history; unbiased, belonging nowhere. Their sole role in life is to record the hidden history, and the facts that would otherwise be lost in the fabric of time and space. They do not become emotionally attached to other humans, nor do they retain their real name or have a home to call their own.

Bookmen cannot, on any circumstances, take an interest in anyone, or at least an interest beyond that of an impartial observer. Romantic relations are forbidden.

Bookmen do not judge. Bookmen do not take sides. Bookmen are like shadows, flitting from battlefield to battlefield, watching like hawks and moving on once the bloodshed is over.

Bookmen have no need of a heart.

However, despite taking such an outlook on life, Bookmen are still human, with all the human emotions and feelings and idiosyncrasies that the rest of the human race display. Not even the coldest of humans can whole-heartedly commit to a life of apathy.

Humans need to be loved, even if they’ve promised themselves otherwise.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

Recording as a soldier was a very different experience for ‘Lavi’, the 49th persona of the Bookman’s apprentice. Having always documented as a bystander 48 times prior, it felt strange to fight and record as the fighting occurred, actually being involved in the bloodshed instead of just watching it.

Lavi’s comrades were purely ink on paper, brief moments of history that would be lost; only the wins and losses of the war would count, not the pawns who fought for the sake of the human race. Though he was one of these pawns, Lavi did not feel anything but apathy towards his current role in life.

It didn’t matter whether they won or lost; only the hidden history mattered.

However, his 49th role was not easy to play - the fighting was difficult, and soldiers always need something to fight for. Lavi did not really know what to fight for, since he wasn’t supposed to connect with his comrades nor the war he was fighting in.

Lavi decided to fight for his own sake; Bookmen needed to survive in order to record, after all.

He was a diligent fighter to everyone else, providing a smile and cheery face when things became bleak. He was funny, caring, supportive, and trustworthy in a tough fight. He may have been annoying at times, what with the nicknames he gave to people, the lack of understanding of personal space, and the pure immaturity he displayed on occasion.

This was all a lie, of course; a soldier needed to be reliable to his fellow soldiers, and easy to get on with. ‘Lavi’ fitted this bill completely.

But he had his faults. Despite having 48 personas before ‘Lavi’, he had not yet perfected complete assimilation with his persona. Some people saw through the cracks in his mask, even if these cracks were almost microscopic in size.

He couldn’t show any emotion in his eye, no matter how hard he tried.

But this wasn’t much of a problem - Lavi had not met many who doubted him and wondered what lay beneath his smiles.

However, after 2 years of being ‘Lavi’, he was assigned a task beyond his role of simply observing the war between Exorcists and the Millenium Earl.

Lavi was asked to observe the Destroyer of Time, Allen Walker.

Upon first meeting him, Lavi could not quite get over how young Allen was; 15 seemed quite a tender age to be given such a heavy burdensome prophecy. And the way the white haired teen acted also interested Lavi; there was much more behind Allen’s smiles and gentlemanly mannerisms than most thought, and he knew for a fact that the teen was quite bitter beneath his ‘mask of Mana’.

The way Allen fought made Lavi itch to slap the boy and tell him to grow up. To act like such a martyr, and purposefully get in harm’s way to save other people, grated against Lavi’s nerves. War was war, and he had seen far too many heroes die for the sake of others.

Lavi, of course, did not take an interest in Allen beyond that which Bookmen were allowed to have. He made friends with the teen, and got to know him as well as possible. He observed his mannerisms, such as counting his money every morning after he woke up, and how he ate his body weight in food three times a day. He noticed how Allen was serious yet his age shone through at times, especially when being lectured by Lenalee.

But there was one thing that interested Lavi more than it should have done; Allen’s accent.

Now, Lavi had travelled the world whilst observing wars with Bookman. He had met virtually all the races and nationalities of the human race, and could speak most of the languages used by modern tongues. He could place someone by their accent almost instantaneously, and knew Allen to be English the instant the boy said “Nice to meet you”.

But, for some reason, the way Allen spoke seemed to stick with Lavi, arousing his curiosity for reasons he couldn’t explain; for example, the way Allen’s accent was extremely thick, almost husky, when he woke up in the mornings. Allen’s accent sounded slightly Cockney at these moments, which amused Lavi.

Allen usually pronounced all of his words perfectly, that being one of the most defining features of the English accent. If Allen and Johnny ever had a conversation, Lavi could barely hold back a grin at how different they sounded, Johnny’s American accent being in complete contrast to Allen’s.

And, when Allen fought, his accent became rougher, and he pronounced his words less clearly.

Lavi didn’t know why he had picked up on it at all - it wasn’t beneficial to his records, and especially wasn’t important to the war nor to Lavi even. So why did Allen’s voice intrigue him so? Why did he find himself wondering, on lonely nights when his all too human needs shone through, how Allen would sound in bed?

It was becoming an obsession, and Lavi was not allowed, nor did he want, to be so fascinated by the way Allen spoke.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

It was early morning when Bookman woke Lavi up, shoving the red head off of his bed and kicking him for good measure to make sure he was awake. Lavi scowled and winced a little as he sat up, rubbing his head and cursing Bookman in Mandarin as he stood up slowly and made his way to the communal bathroom.

When he entered the room, carrying a towel and his toothbrush, Lavi noticed that Allen was already in there, drying his hair with closed eyes, Timcampy making tiny patterns on the condensation-covered mirror with his tail.

“Morning,” Lavi called, making his way next to Allen. The white haired teen opened his eyes and turned towards him, smiling.

“Morning Lavi,” he replied, his voice slightly husky with sleep still. Lavi, like always, seemed to notice how less gentlemanly Allen sounded in the mornings, and how his accent seemed to remind him of citizens of London; not quite as rough as Northerners, but not as crisp and polite as the stereotypical English gentleman.

Shaking his head a little, and trying to ignore the tangents his brain was going down, Lavi started to brush his teeth, looking to the side at Allen from time to time. When he was done, spitting into the sink and turning the tap off, he turned to face the boy beside him.

“Ne Allen, what’re you doing today?”

“Link’s probably going to make me fill out more paperwork...”

“You think you’ll have time to spar with me for a bit?”

The request left Lavi’s lips before he could even wonder whether it was a good idea or not, and whether he should have even asked in the first place. Allen blinked a few times, then gave the red head a smile.

“If I have the time, I’d love to.”

And, with that polite answer, Allen left Lavi alone in the bathroom with his thoughts, which were mostly berating insults directed at himself.

Upon leaving the bathroom, grabbing his bandana from his room before heading to the Cafeteria, Lavi ordered a plate of toast before finding somewhere to sit down. He found a quiet table at one end of the hall, where a certain bad-tempered samurai was eating his morning soba.

“Yuuuuu ~”

“Touch me and I’ll skin you alive, baka usagi.”

Stopping short before he was impaled by Mugen, Lavi gave Kanda an oblivious grin and sat beside him anyway. The raven haired teen had almost finished, unfortunately, so Lavi would be alone before he finished his own breakfast.

Until Timothy came sliding into the Cafeteria, that is.

“Eyepatchy!”

The young Exorcist glomped Lavi with a huge grin, almost knocking Lavi and Kanda’s breakfast onto the floor; Timothy had taken a huge liking to Lavi after he made a comment about how short Lenalee’s new skirt was, and got punched in the face for it.

“And a good morning to you too,” Lavi said with a nervous smile, helping the kid sit down beside him. Timothy grabbed one of Lavi’s pieces of toast, ignoring the distraught expression on the red head’s face.

“So whatcha up to today?” Timothy asked with a mumble, spraying crumbs out in all directions as he spoke. Both Lavi and Kanda resisted the urge to shove the kid off of the table.

“Gramps might end up dragging me off to write records if I don’t find something to do,” Lavi explained with a frown, grabbing his plate before Timothy could steal anymore of his breakfast. “So I’m gonna spar with Allen for a while when Two Spot let’s go of him.”

“But I wanna spar with Old Man Hair!” Timothy cried, pouting. Kanda and Lavi were silent for a while, then -

“Old...”

“Man...”

“Hair...?”

“Yep!”

“HAHAHAHA!”

Lavi almost fell off of the bench, clutching his stomach as he laughed. Kanda couldn’t hold back a chuckle as he imagined just how Allen would react to such a nickname.

“Oh oh Yuu, please call Allen that later!”

“Oh I will.”

Kanda smirked evilly as he said this, and Timothy backed away from the raven haired teen fearfully, not wanting for such sadism to be inflicted on him.

When Lavi eventually calmed down, wiping tears away from his eye whilst still chuckling a little, the red head turned towards the young boy beside him and ruffled his hair affectionately.

“You can come and watch us spar, if you like,” Lavi said with a grin, said grin widening at how Timothy’s face lit up.

“DO I EVER!”

Just as Timothy tried to give Lavi a huge hug, which probably would have sent both of them crashing off of the bench and onto the floor, Emilia stomped up to their table and grabbed Timothy by the ear, pulling him away from Lavi with a sharp tug.

“So here’s where you are! You’re meant to be studying!” Emilia snapped scoldingly, glaring harshly at the boy in her grasp. “You should leave these poor Exorcists alone; I’m sure they’re very busy at the moment, and don’t need you bothering them.”

Lavi and Kanda said nothing, knowing better than to get in the way of the young brunette; she could be as harsh and scary as Matron at times, and as vicious as Lenalee in a bad mood too.

“Aww but I wanna watch Eyepatchy and Old Man Hair spar!” Timothy whined, wincing as Emilia pulled on his ear harder.

“If you study some more, you can watch them,” was all Emilia said in reply before she dragged Timothy away with her, ignoring the young boy’s pleas for her to let go of his ear. Lavi sighed.

“Poor kid...”

“He had it coming.”

Kanda shrugged and ate the remnants of his breakfast before standing up, dropping his tray on Lavi’s head for his own amusement before placing it on a nearby trolley and leaving the Cafeteria. Poor Lavi lifted his head up from the table, wiping melted butter and crumbs off of his face; Kanda had shoved his head right into his breakfast.

Feeling too put-off to eat the squished toast before him, and feeling too lazy to order some more breakfast, Lavi got up and put his plate down on a trolley and left the hall, humming as he placed his hands behind his head and walked down the corridor.

Lavi was looking forward to sparring with Allen; he hadn’t been on a lot of missions lately, and needed some practice. Allen had been kept within Link’s grasp for quite a while, mostly writing reports and being trapped in a dark room all day. And, though he didn’t want to admit it in a way, Lavi had missed Allen’s company, and couldn’t deny feeling excited at spending some time with him.

These feelings still grated against Lavi’s consciousness, making him question the path he was walking, like he had been doing for the past half a year.

Ever since Doug, the Finder who had been close friends with Lavi ever since he joined the Order, died shortly before Lavi met Allen in the Rewinding Town, Lavi had been wondering whether he had made the right choice.

Being a Bookman had never really been his decision - he was orphaned, lost, and abandoned, with no home or family. Bookman noticed his intelligence, and his photographic perfect memory, and decided to raise him as his apprentice. It had been hard, travelling with the old man. Lavi had seen far too much, far too young.

Blood-covered battlefields became a regular sight to him, which should never happen to anyone, nevermind a small child.

Lavi had just wanted to know the hidden history; the facts that no-one knew about. It felt like being in an elite club and, as a small naive little boy, Lavi felt excited at the prospect of becoming a Bookman.

That changed pretty soon after he had to count the number of corpses at battlefields.

Over the years, Lavi had ended up separating the Bookman side of him from the rest of his psyche, choosing to ignore it for the most part. It had led to him ending up this way; feeling emotions, and developing connections and relationships with people that should be no more than ink on paper for him.

Lavi was deviating from the path of a Bookman. And he couldn’t bear to set himself straight again.

Lavi liked being ‘Lavi’; his 49th persona felt right, in a way that he couldn’t quite explain. The Black Order felt like home to him, and the other members of the organisation felt like family too. When Lavi smiled, he knew that it was no longer fake. He felt happy, and enjoyed the company of his friends.

Being so interested in Allen should feel wrong to him too.

This still baffled Lavi, despite him giving it much thought. Allen, initially, had been like a little kid that he had been forced to babysit. The white haired teen had annoyed him at first, and the fact that he wasn’t actually that easy to read aggravated Lavi even more.

But, as the days passed, Lavi began to see the motives behind Allen’s actions and smiles. He knew that Allen blamed himself for the death of his father, and his resurrection as an Akuma, which was why Allen threw himself into battle and tried to protect and save everyone, no matter what harm befell him.

He didn’t want anymore blood on his hands.

Allen, also, smiled all the time to hide the pain that he felt. He didn’t want to face his past, or the current traumas of his day-to-day life, so he hid it behind a polite and gentlemanly mask so that he could keep Mana’s promise and continue down the path that he had chosen.

Lavi knew all this from careful observation, and from asking around about the boy’s past. Komui had seen the memories that Timcampy held soon after Allen arrived at the Order, and knew quite a bit about what Allen had gone through. Komui wasn’t stupid, but Lavi was excellent at getting information out of people.

Having to analyse someone so thoroughly, and keep such a close watch on their actions, was probably the reason why Lavi felt like he did. He wouldn’t go as far to say he was infatuated with Allen. He was straight, and did not find men attractive in any shape or form.

Instead, Lavi was fascinated and intrigued by Allen. He knew it was beyond the normal interest and concern that a friend should have for another friend, but he knew for certain that he did not have cut-and-dried feelings for the boy either.

It was complicated, as emotions always are.

With a sudden crash to the ground, Lavi was startled out of his reverie. Sitting up and blinking, rubbing the back of his head with a wince, Lavi looked upwards at the person he had ended up walking into.

It was Link.

“Oh hey Two Spot,” Lavi said cheerfully, standing up and giving the seething blonde a radiant smile. “Didn’t see ya there.”

“Concentrate on where you are going next time, Bookman Junior!” Link snapped, gathering the bits of paper around him with a scowl, turning his nose up at Lavi as he stomped past him, muttering under his breath in German.

Understanding German, since he was fluent in the language, Lavi chuckled quietly at some of the insults Link was muttering.

Resisting the urge to tell Link off for calling him such names, Lavi kept heading down the corridor to the Training Hall, knowing that Allen would be there eventually if Link was heading somewhere else on his own.

After a minute or two more of walking, Lavi reached the huge double doors that opened up to reveal the hall where the Exorcists did their training. The hall was cavernously huge, with large pillars supporting the ceiling many metres above Lavi’s head. The floor was made of a very sturdy stone that Lavi knew Central had imported from abroad, so it could withstand any damage done by the Exorcists as they trained.

Stepping inside the hall, and shivering a little at how cold it was, Lavi looked around and eventually found Allen sitting behind one of the pillars. The white haired teen was looking to the side, stroking Timcampy’s head absentmindedly with a thoughtful look in his silver eyes.

Eventually realising that he was being watched, Allen looked up and gave Lavi a small smile.

“Hey Lavi,” Allen murmured, standing up and stretching a little as he did so.

“Hey. You ready to spar, beansprout?” Lavi replied, grinning at how Allen’s face darkened.

Lavi was not expecting, however, to be sent flying to the other end of the hall by Allen’s Innocence.

“The name’s Allen. And oh, I think that speaks for itself,” Allen replied curtly, giving Lavi a small smirk as the red head stood up and pouted childishly.

“I wasn’t ready, you bastard!” Lavi cried, activating his Innocence and twirling it a few times. “You’ll pay for that!”

Allen didn’t reply, simply laughing a little and heading off at a sprint towards Lavi. The red headed Bookman waited until the teen was a mere few metres away before dodging to the side, slamming his hammer right in front of Allen. The shockwave from the hit made Allen loose his footing, but he used his Crown Belt to grab onto a nearby pillar and swing round, sending a foot flying straight at Lavi’s head.

Lavi blocked the blow with his arm, grabbing Allen’s leg and swinging him harshly onto the floor. The instant Allen hit the ground, however, the white haired teen grabbed onto Lavi’s hammer with Crown Belt and sent it flying to the right sharply.

Because he was still holding onto his weapon, Lavi was flung alongside his hammer into a pillar some ten metres away. He landed with a crash onto the floor, wincing a little at the sharp pain coming from his head and back.

Grinning despite the pain, since he knew Allen wasn’t going easy on him, Lavi swung his hammer around the top of his head.

“Innocence, Level Two Activated!”

Several seals appeared around the twirling hammer head, glowing brightly and illuminating the area around them with an ethereal glow. Selecting the Fire Seal, it being his favourite one to use in battle, Lavi created a large fiery snake, sending it hurtling towards Allen at a tremendous speed.

“I think fried beansprout will be on the menu today!” Lavi cried, bringing his hammer downwards to rest at his feet.

“How many times do I have to tell you!”

Bringing a hand to his left arm, Allen pulled downwards on his wrist and transformed his Innocence into its Soul of Exorcism form. He then used the large white sword to split the flamed serpent in two, jumping backwards and using his cloak as protection against the scorching hot flames.

Allen completely missed the second snake.

Whilst fighting against the first one, which had now split in two, Lavi had quietly sent another one, which hit the younger teen before he even realised.

Gasping, Allen wrapped himself in his Innocence, flinging his sword upwards as he did so. Because of the flames, Lavi couldn’t clearly see where Allen had gone, thinking that he had simply been swallowed up by the flames.

When Allen suddenly brought the handle of his sword crashing down on Lavi’s head, the red head knew where Allen was.

He would have preferred an alternative method of finding this out.

Cracking his head hard on the stone beneath them, all the breath was knocked out of Lavi as he hit the ground. He felt a trickle of blood run down the back of his neck.

“Man, that’s a bit cruel Allen...” Lavi muttered, sitting up and rubbing his head with a wince, feeling sticky blood on his fingertips.

“Sorry!”

Helping him up, Allen gave Lavi an apologetic smile. He hadn’t meant to hit Lavi quite so hard, but he had ended up getting caught up in the battle, and didn’t think about lightening his blows.

“Ah, it’s fine. Guess it’s pay back for the snakes,” Lavi said in reply, returning the smile.

The two of them deactivated their anti-Akuma weapons, sitting down and using the pillar behind them to rest their backs against.

“So, still wanna spar more?” Lavi asked, wiping the blood on his fingers on the floor. Allen frowned a little.

“Are you sure you don’t want to get your head sorted first?”

“Ah, I’ll be fine. I’ve had far worse.”

“I know...”

The both of them were silent for a while after that, memories of their most recent battles ringing in their minds. Eventually, when Lavi was growing tired of the silence, he turned towards Allen and smiled.

“Hey, do you want me to teach you hand-to-hand combat?”

Allen turned towards Lavi and blinked, surprised. He had mentioned briefly, back when they first arrived in China to look for Cross, that he wished he could fight without his Innocence, fighting like a human would.

“I didn’t know you were skilled at it.”

“Yeah, Gramps taught me martial arts back when I was a kid.”

“... That doesn’t surprise me.”

Lavi laughed at that, shaking his head a little. The violent way that Bookman had raised him surprised and shocked many people, but not Allen; his treatment from Cross was worse in many ways than Lavi’s own upbringing.

“So, you wanna learn some moves?” Lavi asked, turning towards Allen with a grin. The white haired teen was silent for a while, but then he gave a nod of agreement and gave Lavi a smile in return.

This was going to be interesting.

/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

The sound of shouts and yells echoed throughout the Training Hall, startling a few pigeons that had decided to use the rafters near the ceiling to nest. Lavi and Allen were panting, sweating and gasping for breath as they took a short breather.

Lavi was reasonably slow when using his Innocence, but was unbelievably quick on his feet when simply using his body to attack. Allen was caught off-guard on multiple occasions, though he felt glad that he improved as they continued to practice.

Lavi started out simple, refining the skills that Allen already had from battles and his own experience when he was training with Cross. Then, when he felt that Allen was less rusty, he moved onto teaching Allen more complicated moves that he had picked up during his travels around the world, ranging from karate to taekwondo to a few boxing techniques.

As their session carried on, however, Lavi was becoming increasingly distracted. He didn’t know if it was the exercise, or the hit to his head from earlier, but all he did know was that he was paying far too much attention to Allen and his voice, rather than Allen’s movements.

Due to all the strenuous activity, Allen’s voice was husky, losing that polite English tenor that he was so well known for. His accent was rougher and more ‘common’, if you like. It was proving to be very distracting, and earnt Lavi a few punches to the face, and a kick or two to the stomach.

Allen was beginning to notice.

“I think you need to see someone now,” Allen stated, frowning at the way Lavi was moving and how he was barely dodging the blows targeted at him. Lavi couldn’t deny that he had perhaps hit his head harder than he initially thought earlier, and he could feel a steady trickle of blood flowing down his back the more they trained.

When Lavi ended up losing his footing, and easily being floored by Allen with a swift kick to the shins, Allen caught the red head before he hit the floor, concerned by how pale Lavi had become.

“Oh wow, the hall’s spinning,” Lavi commented lightly, blinking a few times as his vision swum. Allen could feel a warm dampness against his legs, and knew that Lavi was losing quite a bit of blood; it wasn’t a dangerous amount, but Allen was still concerned. Allen sighed, feeling guilty that he had ended up hurting his friend like he had.

“I’m sorry, Lavi...” Allen said quietly, refusing to meet the red headed teen’s gaze. “I’ll help you get to the infirma-“

Allen was cut off by fingers brushing against the side of his face. Lavi was looking up at him, eye glazing over slightly. The soft touch startled him, making Allen blink a few times. Thinking that Lavi was probably concussed, and becoming quite delirious, Allen ignored the gesture and attempted to stand up, sliding a hand down to Lavi’s lower back to support him as he tried to stand.

“Ne, Allen... You have a cute accent... you know that right?” Lavi murmured, voice slurring as he grinned stupidly up at Allen. He ran his thumb sofly back and forth against Allen’s cheek, not realising what he was doing in the slightest. His vision was extremely blurry, and he could hear his blood pounding loudly in his ears, blotting out every noise apart from itself.

Allen blushed a little at the remark, not really knowing how to react to it. Lavi was giving him a totally-out-of-it smile, but it was a soft smile nonetheless. It made Allen feel a little awkward, bringing the colour to his cheeks.

Huffing, and trying to keep in mind that Lavi was not in a right state of mind, Allen tried once more to stand. He ended up getting to his feet, with Lavi half in his arms, but this proved to be a very bad idea.

Lavi ended up leaning against him, burying his nose into Allen’s neck with a contented sigh; he was on the verge of passing out, and his vision had entirely gone now, his words no longer registering in his own mind.

“You’re not gonna leave us, are you?”

Allen, who was becoming increasingly embarrassed by the warm breath tickling the side of his neck and the arms loosely wrapped around him, turned a little as Lavi said these words, confused.

“’Cause I couldn’t handle you disappearing, you know...”

With that, Lavi fell unconscious, still slumped against Allen. The white haired teen blinked multiple times, a deep blush adorning his cheeks, eyes wide. After a little while, Allen took a deep breath in, held it, then let it out slowly, trying to calm down his heart, which was racing in his chest for a reason he couldn’t identify.

“You bloody stupid rabbit...”

Picking Lavi up so he was lying over his shoulder, Allen made his way out of the Training Hall towards the infirmary. A few people asked as he went by if Lavi was okay, and Allen simply nodded and headed past them, lost deeply in his own thoughts.

He knew Lavi was concussed, and had not been aware of what he was saying but, at the same time, there was a sincerity and truth to Lavi’s words that still made Allen blush a little. Lavi had always been the immature big brother sort of guy, giving everyone nicknames and invading their personal space despite the consequences, especially with Kanda. Lavi could be serious on occasion, and utterly brilliant on occasion too. But, for the most part, he was a cheery light-hearted 19 year old with a goofy grin and the intelligence of several people combined.

Allen didn’t really know how to handle Lavi being so emotive, at least in an affectionate sort of way. Allen came to realise, as he headed up some stairs to the third floor, where the infirmary was, that Lavi had always had a sort of soft spot for him, ever since they really started to get to know each other.

When Allen pushed the infirmary door open, he glanced to the side at Lavi’s unconscious form and wondered exactly what Lavi had been hiding behind his smiles and immature remarks. Was there something more to Lavi’s words in the Training Hall? Or was it purely the red head being immature and hormone-driven, which he appeared to be at times?

Allen didn’t really know.

“I need some help here!”

Matron and a few nurses looked up as Allen called out, instantly jumping to action and carrying Lavi into a nearby bed. Matron observed the wound on his head, tutted, then gave the nearby nurses bundles of bandages, as well as some painkillers, and left them to it for a while.

“You Exorcists always get unnecessarily injured!” Matron snapped, her expression and aura turning demon-like, in Allen’s opinion, as she turned towards the white haired teen.

“S-sorry, Matron!” Allen stammered, backing away fearfully with his hands raised in front of him defensively. “Me and Lavi were sparring, and he hit his head hard on the floor while we were training.”

“Well at least it isn’t serious...” Matron muttered, turning away after giving Allen a small glare. She then turned towards the nurses, who had almost finished bandaging Lavi’s head. “We are going to need to wake him up every hour, since he is concussed.”

The nurses nodded in agreement and, once they were finished, they left to go about other duties, keeping an eye on the time for when they’d have to wake Lavi up.

“You can go now, Allen,” Matron stated, smoothing over Lavi’s bedsheet before tending to her next patient. Allen stood still then shook his head.

“I want to stay, if that’s okay with you.”

Matron blinked a few times before turning towards Allen again, noting the guilt evident in his eyes, as well as an unknown emotion that Matron couldn’t identify. After a bit of thought, looking around and observing how calm the infirmary actually was, Matron sighed.

“Well, I know you’ll only sneak in when I’m not looking, no doubt, so you can stay,” she answered with a small smile, giving Allen one last look before returning to her duties.

Allen stood there for a few seconds, surprised, then he sat down in a chair beside Lavi’s bedside and looked at the sleeping red head’s form, deep in thought. Then, leaning forward and finding Lavi’s left hand, which was draping over the side of the bed slightly, Allen squeezed it lightly before giving a small, yet gentle, smile.

“I couldn’t handle you going away either.”

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And that’s it folks! Hope you liked it Jana-chan, and I hope the rest of you liked it too :’) Please review!

xrowa-chanx


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